The Kirkus Prize is one of the richest literary awards in the world, with a prize of $50,000 bestowed annually to authors of fiction, nonfiction and young readers’ literature. It was created to celebrate the 81 years of discerning, thoughtful criticism Kirkus Reviews has contributed to both the publishing industry and readers at large. Books that earned the Kirkus Star with publication dates between November 1, 2015, and October 31, 2016 (see FAQ for exceptions), are automatically nominated for the 2016 Kirkus Prize, and the winners will be selected on November 3, 2016, by an esteemed panel composed of nationally respected writers and highly regarded booksellers, librarians and Kirkus critics.

KIRKUS REVIEW

For as long as she can remember, 17-year-old Cara, her
mother, and her 18-year-old sister, Alice, have dreaded the accident season. For
a few weeks every autumn, horrible things happen in their family. "Bones
break, skin tears, bruises bloom." And sometimes people die,
including Cara's father nine years ago. Since then she's gained a new
ex-stepbrother, Sam (he stayed with them when his own father disappeared),
and a new best friend, mystical Bea, somewhat callously, or so she thinks,
abandoning Elsie, the friend who supported her during her childhood grief.
Elsie still attends their school but has mysteriously gone missing. Only when
they throw a Halloween party in a haunted house, inviting everyone they know to
come as the people they are behind their everyday masks, do the secrets start
to ignite. Elsie is worn out from trying to protect them all—and some of the
accidents weren't accidental. Written in Cara’s voice, Fowley-Doyle's
unflinching first-person narration conveys the impossible in prosaic, ordinary
language that nonetheless sings: "I think of all the things our brains
deny, all the memories they hide from us, all the secrets they keep." What
emerges from the smokescreen is a moving portrait of a fractured family,
knitting itself back together with courage and love.

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